2008/01/21

I've never felt like I read enough. This year I'm gonna try what I heard about on some forum somewhere called the 50 book challenge. I'll try to read 50 books this year, which is about 1 a week with a little bit of breathing room. I'm gonna try to make half of them (or more) non-fiction. So here is my list so far. I really liked The Selfish Gene. It really changed my understanding of evolution and life in general. If you pick it up, and you should, read the notes in the back as they come up because the 30th anniversary has lots of updates in it. I also love the Dark Materials trilogy so far. It's unfortunate and it makes me very angry that religious conservatives have organized a boycott against the movie that was so successful that they aren't going to make the 2nd and 3rd movies. You don't see atheists boycotting Narnia, do you? It must be easy to feel threatened by a rival piece of fiction when you can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Anyway, on to the list.

2008/01/05

I am a firm believer that the liberation of women is the first and most vital step towards the elimination of poverty around the world. I am not alone, but apparently There must be violence against women. If that article doesn't make you angry or sad then maybe this will. Recently Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Theo Van Gogh made a short film about the oppression of women under Islam. In case you haven't heard of her, Ayaan is quite possibly the most hunted woman on the planet. She was brought up Muslim and has become one of the most outspoken critics of it since she declared herself free and asked the Netherlands for protection. Shortly after the film was made, Theo Van Gogh was murdered with his throat slit and a 5-page note knifed into his chest. The note was addressed to Ayaan.

These are issues that affect the whole world and I think it's about time people started paying attention. "...tolerance of intolerance is cowardice."